Toyota RAV4 Owners Manual: If the vehicle becomes stuck
Carry out the following procedures if the tires spin or the vehicle becomes stuck in mud, dirt or snow:
- Stop the engine. Set the parking brake and shift the shift lever to p.
- Remove the mud, snow or sand from around the stuck tire.
- Place wood, stones or some other material to help provide traction under the tires.
- Restart the engine.
- Awd models: activate all-wheel drive lock mode.
- Shift the shift lever to d or r and release the parking brake. Then, while exercising caution, depress the accelerator pedal.
When it is difficult to free the vehicle
Turn off trac and/or vsc if these functions are hampering your attempts to free the vehicle.
Press 
to turn off trac.
2Wd models
Awd models
Caution
When attempting to free a stuck vehicle
If you choose to push the vehicle back and forth to free it, make sure the surrounding area is clear to avoid striking other vehicles, objects or people.
The vehicle may also lunge forward or lunge back suddenly as it becomes free. Use extreme caution.
When shifting the shift lever
Be careful not to shift the shift lever with the accelerator pedal depressed.
This may lead to unexpected rapid acceleration of the vehicle that may cause an accident resulting in death or serious injury.
Notice
To avoid damaging the transmission and other components
- Avoid spinning the wheels and depressing the accelerator pedal more than necessary.
- If the vehicle remains stuck even after these procedures are performed, the vehicle may require towing to be freed.
If your vehicle overheats
The following may indicate that your vehicle is overheating.
The high engine coolant temperature warning light Comes
on or a loss of engine power is experienced. (For example, the
vehicl ...
Other materials:
Battery current sensor circuit
Description
The battery current sensor installed on the positive (+) battery terminal
detects the amount of current
supplied from the generator.
The battery current sensor changes current to voltage (at the positive (+)
battery terminal) and sends it to
the ecm. The ecm controls th ...
Horn system
Parts location
System diagram
Problem symptoms table
Hint:
Use the table below to help determine the cause of the
problem symptom. The potential causes of the symptoms are
listed in order of probability in the "suspected area" column of
the table. Check each symptom by c ...
Assist grips
An assist grip installed on the ceiling
can be used to support your
body while sitting on the seat.
Caution
Assist grip
Do not use the assist grip when getting in or out of the vehicle or
rising from
your seat.
Doing so could damage the assist grip, or could cause you to injure yourse ...
